Heavy rains to linger one more day in Hawke’s Bay

Pākōwhai has once again become sodden due to a drenching from a low-pressure system moving over the North Island. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke’s Bay’s sunny respite from showers and sodden ground has been well and truly broken this week, but the spring drenching is not over yet.

MetService said several lows and associated fronts were continuing to bring rain for most of Te Ika-a-Māui/the North Island on Monday.

A MetService heavy rain watch for Hawke’s Bay north of Napier was in place for 14 hours from 9am to 11pm on Monday.

The watch noted periods of heavy rain with amounts that could approach warning criteria, mainly about the ranges.

MetService meteorologist Dom Barry said the heavy rain warnings and watches across much of the North Island were due to a complex low-pressure system that slowly moved southeastward on Monday.

“The heavy rain eases in these areas into Tuesday, but showers remain, some of which could be heavy in Hawke’s Bay,” Barry said.

MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said there was a general easing trend and the rain watch for Hawke’s Bay won’t necessarily be extended into Tuesday but it will still be another wet day.

“The [heaviest] rain should ease off in the first half of the day, but then there’ll be some more showers after that as the flow tips around southwesterly and you could even be seeing some thunderstorms around the region which could lead to some localised heavier showers,” Owen said.

She said the weather is set to improve for the rest of the week and temperatures will return to about average for this time of year by Wednesday, with Napier and Hastings getting temperature highs between 16C and 18C for the next few days.

“We had some pretty hot days last week, so it is definitely going to feel a bit cooler than what people have become used to.”

Complex low-pressure system moving over the North Island this week. GIF / MetService

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Napier CBD rainfall monitoring station had measured 29mm of rain on Monday by 2pm while the Kaiapo Rd monitoring station near the middle of Hastings had measured 24mm over the same period.

The heaviest rainfall on Monday was measured at the Kotemāori and Waipatiki rainfall monitoring stations north of Napier, which recorded 67.8mm and 67mm respectively over the day as of 2pm.

MetServices severe weather warning for rain is issued if widespread heavy rain, exceeding 50mm in six hours or 100mm in 24 hours, is expected.

Although several monitored locations in Hawke’s Bay were at or near 50mm of rainfall after 14 hours on Monday, none appeared to be close to meeting these criteria.

During Cyclone Gabrielle from February 13 to February 14, Glengarry recorded nearly 550mm of rain while one farm in Waiwhare reportedly recorded 730mm of rainfall.